Chapter 865 Do You Want Me to Keep It for You?

The Emperor’s cold eyes were fixed on Shao Wanru, and his powerful aura oppressed her. Even though her head was lowered, she could also sense the Emperor’s displeasure.

Shao Wanru held tightly the handkerchief in her hand. She didn’t understand what had offended the Emperor.

However, the Empress felt delighted in secret. She could see that the Emperor didn’t like Shao Wanru. That was good! She raised the corners of her mouth, smiled, and said softly, “Though Fifth Miss Shao is young, she is a decent girl, and she just made little trouble just now!”

However, it was the truth that she had made some trouble. Recalling that the two imperial concubines had said that Shao Wanru mocked them just now, the Emperor became more displeased.

“She seemed to be a troublemaker too.”

“What do you mean by saying that she made little trouble, Your Majesty the Empress? Please tell me what trouble did she make just now?” Chu Liuchen asked, with an interested smile on his handsome face and his eyes flashing.

The Empress was stunned. Though she said Shao Wanru had made trouble, in fact, she merely said few words. so how could it be considered to be creating a disturbance?

With an embarrassed smile, the Empress explained, “It’s not a big deal. Anyway, Fifth Miss Shao is young!”

What the Empress meant was that Shao Wanru was still young, so it was not a big deal for her to make trouble. However, she did not make clear what the trouble was.

“But I’m curious about what kind of trouble she has made. She cultivated in seclusion in the nunnery for three years. And it is said that no matter how noisy a person used to be, he or she won’t make any trouble after that,” Chu Liuchen rolled his eyes and said with a smile.

The Empress couldn’t keep the smile on her face. If Shao Wanru had been an impetuous person, she wouldn’t have stood such kind of loneliness and bitterness in three-year seclusion. But Shao Wanru could cultivate in seclusion in the mountain for such a long time at such a young age. It showed that she was a sober person. It was unreasonable to say that she made trouble because she was still young.

The Emperor glanced at the Empress secretly with a trace of darkness in his eyes.

Although he was not fond of Shao Wanru, he was not happy to see the Empress oppress her. Since Chen Liuchen had been engaged with her, Shao Wanru’s dignity was equal to Chu Liuchen’s. For this reason, the Emperor would never allow the Empress to do so.

Moreover, since she could spend three years living in the nunnery, she could not be impetuous. In addition, Chu Liuchen was in poor health, so he couldn’t be tolerant of a noisy woman. The only unpleasant thing was that she looked too charming.

Thinking of these, the Emperor slightly changed his impression of Shao Wanru.

“She deserves a compliment for the good deed of cultivating in seclusion in the nunnery and observing mourning for her parents for three years. You should award her later, Empress,” the Emperor said.

The Empress didn’t dare to refuse. She could only nod and say in a soft tone, “That’s what I want to do. I have always been satisfied with Fifth Miss Shao. I intended to award her with some jewelry long before!”

The Empress summoned these people today because she did want to give them the jewelry. Hearing her words, the leading palace maid behind her clapped her hands gently.

Several palace maids showed up from the side door, each of them holding an exquisite box with dragons and phoenixes carved on it. At first glance, one could tell that they were made in palace.

“Your Majesty, these are the gifts I prepared for them. I have intended to award them before,” said the Empress, reaching out to point at those boxes.

The palace maids stood in two rows, three in the front and two at the back. The jewelry boxes in the front row were bigger, and those at the back smaller. Three princes each had a princess. Chu Liuchen did not have a consort, so the two smaller boxes were prepared for Prince Yue’s and Prince Zhou’s consorts.

The Empress was so considerate that the Emperor couldn’t help showing a satisfied smile on his face. He nodded and appreciated the Empress.

The Empress asked the palace maids to give the jewelry boxes with a smile. A palace maid stood in front of Shao Wanru and raised the box in her hand over her head, showing great respect.

The gift recipients hurriedly knelt to express their gratitude!

“These are what the Emperor and I prepared for you. I invited all of you to come to the palace because I want to get familiar with you. You will marry into the royal family soon. I want you to live a good life with your princes and never have any false ideas. Otherwise, it is not the gorgeous jewelry that will be rewarded to you at that time!”

The Empress changed to be solemn and dignified. There was an obvious warning in her words, so her real intention of summoning them was to warn them.

Shao Wanru rolled her eyes and understood what she meant. She immediately thanked her with others.

After they finished the salute, the Empress asked someone to help them stand up and get seated again.

The palace maids opened the jewelry boxes in their hands and then a burst of light of jewelry shone and dazzled everyone’s eyes. At first glance, they knew that they were not ordinary items.

Seeing that they were shocked, the Empress smiled and explained to them, “These ornaments are specially made to add to your dowries.”

Shao Wanru’s attention was caught by a headwear among them. A headwear she had seen before appeared in front of her here! Although it was at the bottom of the box, she recognized it at a glance because it was almost the same as the one she received from Chu Liuchen a few days ago.

Wasn’t such an ornament exclusive to the Empress? How could it appear in the jewelry box given to her?

The box was almost full of jewelry, with the headwear placed at the very bottom. She would not have been able to discover it in a second if she had not carefully observed the one Chu Liuchen gave to her before. Other jewelry in the same box was as gorgeous as the headwear. It was not easy to figure it out.

Her long eyelashes fluttered, and then she raised her eyes calmly to look at Chu Liuchen, only to find that he was smiling, with his eyes looking deep and leisurely. He seemed to be in a good mood.

After thinking for a second, Shao Wanru walked up to Chu Liuchen and bowed deeply.

“What’s the matter, Fifth Miss Shao?” Chu Liuchen asked in a leisurely tone.

“I don’t dare to directly accept such valuable gifts from the Empress,” Shao Wanru said with an awkward look. Her voice was low, but those Misses, who were about to take the jewelry box, heard her and became embarrassed.

It looked that they were a little impatient.

“Don’t you like them?” Chu Liuchen’s voice was not high, but everyone in the hall heard it and felt it gentle.

Qi Rongzhi looked at Shao Wanru and then at Chu Liuchen. She pursed her lips.

In fact, she didn’t want to get close to Shao Wanru.

“They are the presents from the Empress. How can I not like them?” Shao Wanru said with a blush on her face. She handed the box in her hand over to Chu Liuchen, and looked like she didn’t know what to say.

However, Chu Liuchen understood what she meant. He reached out to take the jewelry box and said, “Do you want me to keep it for you? Well, I will reluctantly accept it!”

After that, the jewelry box had been in his hand. Shao Wanru became shyer and her delicate face turned red, which made her more beautiful in others’ eyes.

The Empress was astonished by what they did. She had thought that Shao Wanru would refuse to accept the gift, but she didn’t expect that she would give the jewelry box to Chu Liuchen.

“Fifth Miss Shao, don’t you like my gifts?” The Empress looked unhappy.

“No, I like them very much,” Shao Wanru shook her head and explained in a low voice. She looked awkward and seemed to be too bashful to explain.

Of course, the gifts given by the Empress could not be refused at will. If something went wrong, she would be accused of disdaining the royal family. Shao Wanru would not be so stupid to refuse her. Moreover, the Emperor was still here. She could feel that he did not have a good impression of her!

“Since you like them, why didn’t you keep them yourself but gave them to Prince Chen?” The Empress’s face turned completely cold. If Shao Wanru didn’t give a reasonable explanation, she would punish Shao Wanru even if the Emperor was here.

“Your Merciful Majesty, in fact…” Shao Wanru looked more and more bashful and said, “Prince Chen has also given some presents to me before, but I sent them back, because I want His Highness to keep them for me first…”

Before she finished her words, Shao Wanru’s face had been totally red.

The Emperor saw her through. Looking at the charming and elegant girl with a blushed face, and then at his handsome nephew, who took his future wife’s behavior for granted, he suddenly burst into laughter.

“Good… good!” He praised in a casual manner. Of course, the Emperor was willing to see his nephew have the upper hand. It was his nephew’s idea. Shao Wanru just looked charming and was nothing but an ignorant girl. Otherwise, she would not have done such a thing.

It was a good habit to ask her fiance to keep the good stuff for her instead of keeping it for herself.

The Empress curved her lips. It looked like she was smiling, but she couldn’t smile at all. After the Emperor’s laughter stopped, she said softly, “The jewelry should be kept by a woman. Prince Chen has a lot of things to deal with. Besides, he is in poor health, so how can you trouble him with such a thing? What’s more, the two of you haven’t…”

As she said that, the Empress cast a glance at Chu Liuchen. The Empress was considerate enough towards him. But everyone understood what she meant. She hinted that Shao Wanru and Chu Liuchen had an affair before marriage, indicating that Shao Wanru had a bad character.

Chu Liuchen replied in a lazy voice, “Your Merciful Majesty, the engagement between us has been settled early, but it has not been announced yet. Even if we have met and talked to each other several times, it should not be a big deal! Imperial Grandmother has also given a lot of things to Fifth Miss Shao before. At that time, it was inconvenient for her to keep them in the nunnery, so they were all sent to my mansion!”

Even Empress Dowager had acquiesced in their relationship, so it seemed that Empress Queen was deliberately provoking Empress Dowager if she kept arguing about it.

The engagement had been settled since a long time ago? Had it just been decided? Qi Rongzhi’s eyes narrowed.

“The jewelry given by you is really good. I’ll put it away for Fifth Miss Shao after I go back!” After saying that, Chu Liuchen weighed the jewelry box in his hand without looking at the Empress’s pale face caused by anger. Unexpectedly, he didn’t hold the box tight and it fell off and the delicate jewelry inside was scattered on the ground. Some ornaments were broken.

Among the ornaments, there was an exquisite headwear, which was the most eye-catching. It was made of fine and exquisite gold. The jewels embedded into its surface flickered and a dazzling shape of a phoenix…

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